


Duality

by keelahselai



Category: Persona 4
Genre: (eventually) - Freeform, Background Relationships, December 5, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, Isolation, M/M, Multiple Shadows, POV Alternating, Plotty, Self-Acceptance, Shadow Yu, adachi has bullshit powers in the tv i cant remember the rules of so im gonna wing it, like theres souyo but its not necessarily the focus yknow, mainly bc adachi is a living sack of shit and shadow yu is basically also adachi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-03-22
Updated: 2017-04-24
Packaged: 2018-10-06 19:18:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,288
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10342848
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/keelahselai/pseuds/keelahselai
Summary: And now he is alone, mostly. Adachi chose to appear occasionally to gloat, but overall the feeling of isolation grew and grew until the pile of defunct TVs in the corner began to flicker on one by one.Meanwhile, the Investigation Team struggles to find Yu in the thickening fog of the cold city that grew around him in the TV world.((hiatus til i dont suck at writing lmao))





	1. Small Town Boredom

**Author's Note:**

> alright, so this is another shadow yu thing bc i love making yu narukami suffer  
> this first part is pretty short; the other chapters will be longer yo

After coming through the TV so many times, it was easy to land on his feet despite the consistent hard landing. The same couldn't be said for Adachi, who'd landed with the grace of a brick as he spat curses stumbling back to his feet.

They'd been falling together, Adachi keeping his wrist in a vice-like grip through the TV and only when the ground began visibly approaching very, very quickly through the fog did he release his grip in favor of waving his arms around to right himself to land properly, but to no avail.

Yu'd stalked over to the prone detective, fists balled, and gave him a hard kick in the side that sent Adachi sprawling. While he was coughing, Yu took him by the collar and forcibly pulled him up and slammed his back against the wall. "Why?" he demanded, voice raw with hurt and rage. "Why would you do it?"

Adachi bared his teeth at him in a broken facsimile of a smile that came out more like a lunatic grin. "You won't care for my reasons much, even if I told you."

Yu's grip tightened. "Try me."

"You really want to know?" he crooned. Yu didn't respond, but Adachi continued anyway. "None."

"'None?'" Incredulous.

"I had _none_. You want me to justify the murders, right? Maybe spit out some tragic story from my youth? Is that it?" Dead gray eyes bored into his own, belied by the maniacal smile on Adachi's face. He laughed in Yu's face. "I had no reason. I used to work in Tokyo. Now I work in boring-as-shit Inaba. Honest to god, I wasn't _trying_ to kill Yamano but the results weren't so bad, now were they?" He pried the teenager's hands loose from their grip on his collar and took a few steps forward. "It really did spice up the year, didn't it?"

"You're insane."

He ignored Yu's statement. "I want answers, Narukami. Inaba would've been a boring shitfest otherwise, right?"

Yu grit his teeth. "No."

"C'mon, you can tell me. We're friends, aren't we? Think of all that time we spent together, you can tell me." He almost... he almost looked like he was flickering. Like an old TV screen, Adachi's edges seemed to be fuzzing in and out. "It's not like your friends'll be able to find us in all this fog even if they do come to the right place; you can say it."

 _ _"Shut up!"__ Before he fully knew what he was doing, Yu took a hard, reckless swing at his former friend and caught him across the jaw and both of them stumbled from the force of it. "Do you know _anything_ about me, Adachi?" he spat, pure vitriol dripping from his words.

"Do they?" he countered, "You're judging me for not knowing much about you, but what about your friends? You're not an open book, Narukami. Besides," Adachi added as an afterthought, "Without me, you wouldn't have even met half of them, so in a way I was doing you a favor."

He went to take another swing at him instead of replying, but his fist collided only with air.

"Huh, that's weird." A too-familiar voice behind him commented in genuine surprise. Yu spun around to see Adachi staring at his hand, wiggling his fingers curiously. It wasn't a trick of the light this time; his entire figure was flickering and obscured partially by static. When he spoke next, his words seemed garbled. "I was gonna try and rile you up a little more before I left, but this place seems to have other plans. I-" He started to say something else but just like that, he disappeared and Yu was left alone.

He wasn't sure how long he waited for Adachi's inevitable return. It could've been ten minutes, it could've been an hour -- time in the TV never quite seemed to pass how it should. However long he waited, Adachi never came back and he was left alone with his thoughts. The unpleasant ones that had been forced onto him by the detective.

"No, that's not it," Yu muttered to himself, drawing his Yasogami jacket closer around him. It was getting cold.

Without the investigation, he would obviously still care about Inaba as deeply as he did. Inaba has Nanako and Dojima, the closest family members he has; Yukiko and Chie, who showed him the different ways to protect what he loves; Rise, whose infectious cheeriness never fails to lift everyone's spirits; Kanji and Naoto in their very different-yet-effective ways of handling problems and self-definition; and Yosuke, the best friend he'd ever had and probably the closest he's ever gotten to _anyone._ His bonds with them have nothing to do wi-

That little niggling thought at the back of his head became louder.

_"What they hell're you looking at, punks?!"_

_"I'm only here for the case. The police know who the culprit is so once I'm not needed, I will move on."_

_"What does it matter if I'm Risette or not? I'm tired..."_

Flashes of who his friends were flooded his thoughts, blocking out anything and everything. Most of the memories after befriending them pertained to the murders: solving them, theorizing over the killer, discussing who could be next and how to stop it. That table at Junes, the rooftop of Yasogami, even the street corner in the shopping district he'd talked with Yosuke for hours beneath the dim streetlight about the case. Would his friends really...?

Yu tried to picture Inaba sans the serial killings hanging over everyone's heads and couldn't.

"That's not it," he spoke out loud, trying to quell the growing unease inside of him about what could have been.

"I would feel the same without the murders."

And with that, a screen in a formerly unnoticed pile of TVs in the corner of the room burst on.

 

* * *

 

 

_You feel that your bond with Adachi has changed dramatically..._

_Thou art you're not me... and I am  I'm not like that... _ _Thou has seen I'm nothing like that... It is thy first step in I accept myself, but that is not myself_ _Thou must bear thine inner power where is Izanagi? before uncovering the truth..._

_Rank up!_

_Rank 9: Hunger - Tohru Adachi_


	2. Surrounded by Idiots

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The room hadn't changed much. Posters with Misuzu Hiragi's face ripped away were still plastered on the walls all around the room and a haunting noose still hung over the overturned chair at the center. It was a snapshot into the murder investigation so many months ago, save for one thing.
> 
> Without turning his gaze away from the opaque window, Adachi slowly clapped as the Investigation Team burst into the room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> not to be gay or anything but im highkey excited

Yosuke was pacing a trench into the TV world headquarters, grinding his teeth while Rise had Kanzeon put out feelers across the TV world to find Yu.

They'd made it to Nametame's room just in time to see Yu struggling to prevent Adachi from escaping into the TV, to see the panicked look in his eyes when Adachi threw his weight at him in a glorified tackle that sent the both of them sprawling back, back into the screen they'd almost thrown Nametame through two nights prior to atone for his alleged killings. The last they'd seen of Yu was an outstretched hand reaching through the TV screen before disappearing behind the silent black surface.

He abruptly stopped his pacing, whirling on his heel to snap at Rise, "C'mon, you have to know him well enough to have found him by now! We need to hurry!"

"I know, alright? I want to find him too, but I keep getting lots of false positives flagged where some of us fell in," Rise frowned without moving away from Kanzeon's visor, frustration clear in her tone. "I keep thinking he's at Naoto's laboratory or Yukiko's castle, but when I try to focus in anywhere he might be, it's like... like when you turn on windshield wipers and they just smear the glass instead. I can see Shadows and feel that he's here, but I can't find exactly where senpai is."

"First Teddie's nose went, now Kanzeon?" he asked incredulously, laughing in disbelief. "Are you kidding-"

"Yosuke," Naoto said sharply. "That's enough. Rise is doing her best to find him and your unneeded criticism isn't going to help us find senpai _or_ Adachi any faster."

The tips of his ears went red with shame. _Damn, she has a point._ Turning back to the former idol, he gave a tired sigh and scrubbed a hand over his face. "...Sorry, Rise. I'm just really freaking out, like... first we find out about Adachi, now Yu's gone." Yosuke hesitated before adding, "It's been a really long week for all of us, Rise, sorry for snapping at you."

She made a frustrated noise in response, allowing Kanzeon to fade back into herself. "You're right though, it's no use. I can't find him. I have no idea where he or Adachi might be." Even from his distance, Yosuke could see tears welling up in her eyes. "I'm sorry, everyone," Rise managed in a small voice before the tears started falling, folding in on herself in her sobs.

"Way to go, Yosuke," Chie deadpanned, shooting him a disgusted look as she and Yukiko made their way over to the crying girl, hugging her and offering consolation as well as mild offers to murder Yosuke.

He ignored Chie in favor of Naoto. "Do you have any other ideas?" Yosuke asked, gaze alternating between the detective and Rise.

She rubbed her chin in thought. "Teddie, is your nose working at all, by any chance?" she called out, grabbing the bear's attention.

Teddie perked up at the sound of his name. "I can try," he said, determination written across his face, "I'll bully my nose into working with Sensei on the line!" After a few awkward moments of the bear turning about to situate himself, he growled.

"What is it? Did you find him?" Yosuke asked, hope in his voice.

He seemed crestfallen at that. "My nose is working again, loud and clear," he said reluctantly.

"Way to go, Ted!" Kanji exclaimed encouragingly.

Naoto didn't seem fazed. "But?" she pressed.

"...but I can't find Sensei, either." Teddie finished, wincing and pawing his nose tenderly before his expression hardened. "I did find someone else, though," he added.

"Adachi,"Naoto hissed, Kanji cracking his knuckles in synchrony with her.

"Rightie! Follow Teddie, let's find Adachi-baby!"

* * *

"This place again..." Despite the area being utterly covered in fog almost a year ago, Yosuke recognized the place as where he, Chie, and Yu had explored to last March the first time they entered the TV. He turns around to find Chie in the small crowd trooping up the stairs up the abandoned apartment complex. "Chie-" 

"Are you gonna pee again?" she teased, in spite of her clearly mounting unease at the situation.

"Wha-? No! Stop bringing that up!" Yosuke gave a pained sigh at the memory after quickly checking that Rise hadn't heard. 

"I know what you mean, though," Chie shivered. "I'm not looking forward to going back there, that's for sure. Do you think it's changed any since last time?"

He turned his gaze away from her and fixed it on the door at the end of the hall. "Only one way to find out."

The room hadn't changed much. Posters with Misuzu Hiragi's face ripped away were still plastered on the walls all around the room and a haunting noose still hung over the overturned chair at the center. It was a snapshot into the murder investigation so many months ago, save for one thing.

Without turning his gaze away from the opaque window, Adachi slowly clapped as the Investigation Team burst into the room.

"Wow, I'm surprised you showed up so quickly. I expected you guys to chase your tails a little longer worrying over your 'leader.'" He looked at them from the corner of his eye, hands shoved deep into his pockets after the sarcastic clapping.

"Where is he?" Yosuke demanded, fear knotting in his stomach. If Adachi was here without Yu...

"Senpai, it's not really Adachi!" Rise suddenly cried, fire returned to her eyes. "It's a projection!"

"Congrats, you want a cookie or something for that?" he asked bitterly. His upper lip curled, edges of Adachi's figure flickering and he turned to face them more fully. "Hell if I know," he said bluntly. The cheek that had been facing away from them was turning a sickly purple as well as a split lip with blood smeared across his chin.

Yosuke's pride rose at that. At least Yu'd landed a few hits on the bastard.

"Bullshit," Kanji spat. "You two fell in together, you landed together. So where the hell is he?!"

"Why should I tell you?" He cocked an eyebrow. "What does that get me?"

"I'm not going to insult your intelligence, Adachi," Naoto interjected in an impassive tone before Kanji could respond, anger belied by the slight shake to her voice. "You know perfectly well what that gets you. I will not give you the satisfaction of spelling it out like a fool."

A grin spread across his bruised face. "Looks like someone's still vaguely competent in this shithole town. I'm surprised you still have a decent IQ after spending so much time around these idiots, Shirogane."

Yosuke wasn't the only one about to bite back for that one, but a warning hand on Kanji's bicep was a quiet flag for the rest of the group to stay quiet and let Naoto work. 

It was a standoff. Naoto's steely eyes held Adachi's expectant ones for a tense few moments of silence.

Eventually, the killer's smile dropped from his face and the empty look returned to Adachi's eyes. "You'll find him on the way to find me," he said simply before tearing the police tape at the window and disappearing through the sudden gaping hole in the wall.

Once he left, Naoto waited a few beats before letting out a long breath. "Thank you all for not interfering," she said quietly, a grateful smile gracing her lips, "I understand how hard it might've been for some of you."

"Uh, not to be an idiot, but... what does he get from telling us that?" Chie said, wincing at herself.

"...I was confused by that as well," Yukiko admitted, fiddling with a strand of her hair.

Naoto's soft smile dropped from her countenance. "Did any of you catch on to what we were talking about?"

A chorus of _no'_ s was her answer, Yosuke chiming in with the group reluctantly.

She sighed deeply through her nose. "If we go after Yu first, he has more time to prepare before fighting us. He knows how strong we are, so he obviously wants to bide as much time as he can. He's probably hoping we get killed along the way."

"Then we better hurry," Yosuke said darkly. "Rise, what do you think? Can we do it today?"

"I sense a lot of powerful Shadows where Adachi went, but I know we're strong enough to make it to senpai," Rise said, a frown still tugging at the corners of her lips. "I can feel Adachi there now, but I still can't tell where senpai is."

"That's alright," he replied, starting to walk toward the gateway to Adachi's world. "We'll find him, Rise. Let's go." And with that, Yosuke stepped into the red and black maw of the entrance.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Eventually, the killer's smile dropped from his face and the empty look returned to Adachi's eyes. "He's been found dead in Miami," he said simply before heelying into the doorway.


	3. Interlude I

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The team went home that night to rest up for the rescue mission they'd go on the following day. Yosuke checks out what's on TV.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry for taking so long to update and with such a short chapter!! exams are a bitch and i Needed the boosts to my grade. plus i think i said before in the notes that i was gonna have little interludes like this as breaks between chapters sooo  
> also idk if it's obvious but this is based the night before they go into the tv to save yu  
> and yes, im aware im suuuper pushing the limits here of the Rules but this happened sorta w nametame in the hospital room when yosuke tried to. deadass murder him. so lets play off that as precedence

_December 5 -_

Instead of doing _anything_ , the team decided to go home.

"We're no help to him in this state," Naoto had said, grabbing Chie by the arm as she charged toward the TV Yu had sunk into with Adachi. "We need to regroup and enter only when we're ready or we could endanger senpai's life even more."

They agreed to meet at Junes the following morning and went their separate ways. Alone, Yosuke navigated the foggy streets of Inaba back to his house. His mother stood up from where she was sitting to ask him what happened - he was unabashedly seething rage, as one would be after watching a killer drag one's best friend who-knows-where - and didn't acknowledge her, stalking past her to slam the door to his room behind him.

Yosuke stood there for a few seconds before it all came pouring out. He let out a cry of anger before kicking his Junes-brand dresser with all the force he had, putting a hole through his pants drawer. He heard his mom at the door, asking what was wrong, insisting he could talk to her about whatever was troubling him. He responded by immediately blasting whatever was in his speaker, drowning her out. Childish, yeah, but he just couldn't deal with anyone right then. Especially anyone who wasn't involved with the TV side of the investigation.

He wasn't sure how long it took. A few hours, maybe? He didn't know how long ago they'd eaten dinner at Aiya; he didn't know what time it was when Adachi pulled Yu with him into the TV; he didn't know when he got home or how long his music had blared before the album ended and silence took its place. All Yosuke knew for sure was that at midnight exactly, his TV burst on to loud static on its own accord, making Yosuke who had been pacing a track into his floor, trip over the coffee table in his room in shock.

Small text in the lower left corner of the screen like an action movie, reading simply as "Midnight Channel" with the time below while the otherwise black screen faded to a dark close up of Yu smirking confidently into the camera with glowing yellow eyes seemingly boring right into Yosuke's soul. He felt a chill go down his spine.

 _"I just want to say before we get started,"_ the shadow began, letting the smirk drop from its face in a mock serious frown, _"That I am_ so _sorry for everyone who thought I genuinely cared when they spilled their hearts to me."_

Yosuke's heart pounded, blood rushing in his ears as he frantically scrambled up from the floor. He knew it was a shadow, he knew they just spouted all the worst and most personal things anyone could think. But somehow, for some reason, the fact that Yu never had to face his shadow to use his persona it just felt like he was completely and utterly honest with how he felt. The once again grinning, yellow-eyed apparition on the screen proved that line of thinking wrong by its mere existence.

It winked at the camera. _"I know you're watching this and I know what you're probably thinking. 'Oh, how could he have tricked me!', 'I trusted you!', 'What the hell, man?!'"_ It did perfect imitations of their friends, their voices jarring with the visual of Yu pouting and wiping a nonexistent tear from his glowing eye before his expression fell back into to Yu's characteristically serious face. _"We spent all this time looking for the truth but I haven't been exactly spilling my heart, have I?"_ It leaned forward even closer to the camera before finishing, _"You know the drill. One of us is going to end up coming out of here but let's face it, that other me that you care so much about? Not worth the effort. You'll see."_

The shadow leaned back to where it was before, a self-satisfied grin on its face like a cat that ate the canary. _"I wouldn't bother called the others about this Midnight Channel episode, Yosuke, you might wake them up."_

His stomach dropped like an anvil. None of the other midnight channels for the rest of the team had directly named anyone-

The shadow threw its head back cackling. _"You probably watched this whole time thinking this was general broadcast, holy shit!"_ it wheezed, _"Oh man, that's priceless. No, this is just for my ego-boosting right hand. I'll catch you tomorrow, right partner?"_ And with a wink, the TV shut off and Yosuke was left in the silence of his room again.

It wasn't raining.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "I just want to say before we get started," the shadow began, letting the smirk drop from its face in a mock serious frown, "That I can't BELIEVE everyone thought I was heterosexual."

**Author's Note:**

> Yu'd stalked over to the prone detective, fists balled, and gave him a hard kick in the side that sent Adachi sprawling. While he was coughing, Yu took him by the collar and pulled him up so his back was against the wall. "Why?" he demanded, voice raw with hurt and rage. "Why would you do it?"
> 
> Adachi bared his teeth at him. "For the lulz, Yu-kun."


End file.
